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BASF invests heavily in China

BASF SE has announced its largest-ever investment project in China. The investment of the German chemical giant is estimated to reach up to US$10 billion upon completion.

In Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province, BASF will build plants to produce engineering plastics serving a range of key industries. The first stages of this wholly foreign-funded Verbund project is expected to come on stream in 2022.

The investments show BASF’s ambition to expand further into China, the world’s largest market for chemical products. The company will build an integrated site with a 9-square-kilometer area on Donghai Island near Zhanjiang. According to the Shanghai Daily, the site will include steam cracking units with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of ethylene and more than 30 production units that offer consumer market-oriented products and solutions.

Haryono Lim, Senior Vice President of the project, explain why BASF chose to invest in Zhanjiang: "Guangdong is home to key customer industries for BASF, like transportation, consumer goods, and electronics. With more than 110 million residents, and annual GDP growth of 7%, it is one of the fastest-growing markets for innovations from chemistry."

BASF currently has 9,000 employees in China. Last year, the company sold products worth more than €7.3 billion to customers in China.

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